Joe Girardi spent a lot of time in Chicago with Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, but he’s been viewed as a distant third-place candidate in the Cubs’ search for a new manager. With David Ross long presumed the favorite and Joe Espada scoring a second interview that could mean he’s the man for the job, Girardi’s future lies elsewhere.
The most likely landing spots are in the NL East, with two of the teams out there in need of new skippers. But while the Mets seemed to be the preferred landing spot for a while, it now looks as though the Phillies will be Girardi’s next stop.